Moodyville: Legend and Legacy

Water Pitcher

This pitcher belonged to the Mee family, who ran the Moodyville hotel after 1900. It arrived at the North Vancouver Museum and Archives in pieces and was painstakingly reconstructed. Although little is known about this particular artifact, its ornate appearance indicates a high calibre of service for a frontier town. This is consistent with a report in an 1888 issue of the San Francisco Journal of Commerce, which fairly gushes:

“At the bar only the very best wines and liquors are kept, and here again [manager] Captain Power displays equal good judgement and ability, knowing well how to combine the suaviter in modo [gentle in manner] with the fortiter in re [resolute in execution]. Notwithstanding the large community surrounding him, drunkenness is unknown, another standing example to show … that the liquor traffic, properly managed and controlled, is far more effectual in its results than prohibition.”

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WHAT
This pressed-glass pitcher with a metal spout is said to have been used at the Moodyville Hotel.

WHERE
The pitcher likely contained water and stood on the hotel bar. It was probably manufactured in the United States.

WHEN
The pitcher was likely ordered from a U.S. catalogue in the late 1800s.

WHO
The Mee family, whose descendants donated the pitcher, ran the hotel after the turn of the 19th century.